Faith and Trust
by Taliya
Summary: "A trade: Your daughter and her boyfriend in exchange for you, Kaitou KID, along with Pandora." The only problem was, the ransom note had been addressed and delivered to Nakamori Ginzou—and not Kuroba Kaito. And somewhere along the way, Nakamori Aoko discovers her best friend's most closely guarded secret. Rated for mild language and violence.
1. I: Desperation

Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Ansatsu Kyushitsu characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō and Matsui Yūsei, respectively.

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Warnings: Mild language and violence

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Faith and Trust

By Taliya

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I: Desperation

* * *

Nakamori Ginzo, an inspector within Division Two, Criminal Affairs, was currently sitting at home with his hair more unkempt than usual and his expression quite distraught. It was a Tuesday afternoon, a little before twelve hundred hours, as he had returned home during his lunch break—but today was of particular significance. Sitting innocently on the dining table before him was a brief note:

 _Kaitou KID,_

 _We have you daughter and her boyfriend.  
If you want to see them alive, then here  
is the proposition:_

 _A trade: Your daughter and her boyfriend  
in exchange for you, along with Pandora.  
We know you found it, since you never  
returned the Dream of Hera._

 _5 Choume, 5 Higashishinagawa in  
Shinegawa. Come alone, no police._

 _You have until midnight tonight to make  
your decision._

There had been no name to go off of, no handwriting as it had been typed, no nothing. Ginzo had found the note on his front doorstep when he had been on his way into his house. The slip of paper had been wedged partway under the door, and the crisp material had audibly crinkled when he had opened the portal, thereby notifying him of a foreign object on his doorstep. Dusting for fingerprints had yielded nothing. Multiple dials to his seventeen-year-old daughter Aoko's number—and a few times to her friend's as well—had resulted in the automated reply of a line not in service, and a phone call to Ekoda High School had confirmed the neither she nor her childhood friend, Kuroba Kaito, had made it to class that morning.

Despite the fact that Ginzo _knew_ he should take the note to the office and allow the SAT to handle it—they were trained to handle hostile hostage situations, after all—he could not, for the life of him, convince himself to move from the couch or pick up his phone to dial headquarters. The simple slip of paper stared damningly at him from the surface of the table as he scrolled in his mind through every criminal he had put behind bars—along with anyone associated with those he had incarcerated.

He ruffled his hair once more in agitation before firming his resolve. The policeman snatched the note from the table, marched to his car, and drove to police headquarters in Chiyoda, all the while glaring at the slip of paper sitting in his passenger seat at every stoplight he encountered. By the time he made the thirty-minute drive, the seasoned officer had needed to wipe off the sweat from his hands several times on his handkerchief. By the time he stood before Fujita Gorou, the Chief Superintendent of the Security Bureau, Ginzo had irreparably crumpled the note, which he had possessed the foresight to bag before he had left his home.

"Please," he begged, offering the protected paper with a deep bow, "Please save my daughter!" The chief superintendent's administrative assistant had photocopied the note, and a small stack of the copies rested on the visitor's chair.

The chief superintendent took the note as he gestured for Ginzo to sit in the visitor's seat and read it once, twice, his amber-colored eyes narrowing in thought. "They believe _you_ to be Kaitou KID?" the tall, slender man asked with more than a hint of incredulity.

Ginzo sighed heavily, fidgeting with the stack of photocopies. "Don't ask me how they figured _that_ ," he replied. "I have no idea how they came to _that_ conclusion."

"Your daughter and her friend are verified missing?" Fujita asked.

"Yes. I called both their phones and the school, and they were not in attendance," the distraught father answered.

The head of the bureau hummed and tapped a button on his desk phone, requesting that his assistant page Assistant Inspector Karasuma Tadaomi. Within a minute, a broad-shouldered, stern man entered Fujita's office. "Fujita-buchou," he greeted, saluting.

"At ease, Karasuma-keibuho," the chief superintendent said immediately. When the assistant inspector relaxed from his salute, he continued. "We have a hostage situation with a time limit."

Ginzo handed the SAT member a replica of the note, and they waited for Karasuma to read through it. "We'll need to case the area before our time is up."

"And what of KID?" Ginzo asked, unable to completely forget the phantom thief despite his anxiety for his daughter's safety.

Karasuma's eyes sharpened. "We've no way to contact him, correct?"

At Fujita's expectant stare, the Task Force head answered, "Yes, he doesn't show unless he announces it."

"Very well," the team captain said. He held out a hand for the rest of the photocopies, which he promptly received. "I'll assemble a team to extract the hostages and return to include you in the planning," he said, directing the last part to Ginzo.

Fujita nodded. "Dismissed, both of you."

As Karasuma saluted perfunctorily swept out of the room, Ginzo followed with salute of his own and left, hoping with all of his heart that his daughter and her friend made it out safely while also praying that they would all have Kaitou KID's uncanny luck tonight.

* * *

Kuroba Kaito had come to lying on a dusty warehouse floor, bound tightly in rope at the chest, wrists, and ankles, and taped at the mouth. He blinked slowly, his vision swimming in time with his stomach as he muzzily wondered which sedative they had used on him and—

"Aoho?" he mumbled through the tape, twisting his head as quickly as he dared. He found his friend a meter away, similarly bound and still apparently out cold.

Kaito closed his eyes, understanding that his current state of wooziness was due to the sedative, though that did not mean he liked it at all. Considering how quickly the sedative had worked, he had to guess either desflurane or sevoflurane—perhaps even isoflurane. But considering how there was no aftertaste—so to speak—as well as a higher than usual amount of salivation along with his drowsiness, lightheadedness, queasiness, and subtle headache, Kaito deduced that they had been dosed with sevoflurane: his work creating his own sedative cocktails had ensured that he had a rather thorough knowledge of the various types of vaporized anesthesia available. That he had also inadvertently raised his tolerance to the various sedatives meant that he had undoubtedly woken up much earlier than his captors had anticipated—hence the lack of a guard anywhere in immediate sight.

He wondered what time it was, because despite the sunlight that glowed through the windows, he had no means of orienting which direction the sun was. Only time would give him that particular answer. His eyes roved his surroundings: a vast, abandoned warehouse with several windows too high to reach without help, a regular person-sized door, and a padlocked garage door. Dilapidated shipping crates, along with one corroding shipping container, were haphazardly piled in the corners of the cavernous space, and the tang of salt in the air told him that he was likely somewhere along the fringes of Tokyo Bay.

His school bag was nowhere in sight, and neither was Aoko's. The magician heaved a mental sigh of relief that he had not stowed the Dream of Hera inside it—instead, it was stashed on his person. He wondered if his abductors had frisked him, and a little bit of rolling proved that his wallet was missing. The green sapphire, however, was in hidden pocket, and therefore remained undiscovered. The gem had glowed a bloody red the night he had retrieved it, and he had yet to figure out a way to destroy it that did not yet involve C4 or a volcano. He was grateful that he had not otherwise been touched, and hoped to high heaven that the same held true for his friend—especially since she was _female_.

He glanced at Aoko once more. She still showed no signs of waking any time soon, though every now and then shivers wracked her body. With some wiggling and rolling that made him feel like vomiting, he managed to scoot himself closer to her. He shuddered despite the fact that it was still August, knowing that it was again a side effect of the sevoflurane, and pressed his front as close to flush against her back as he could to keep her warm on the cold concrete flooring.

Kaito wiggled the fingers of his hands, which were bound behind his back. He knew he could easily escape, had he been by himself. But with an unconscious Aoko, who he could _never_ abandon in her current helpless state—or any state, for that matter—fleeing was simply not an option. Add in his still rather disoriented status along with his lack of desire to tip his hand so early in the game without having useful information of any kind, and so Kaito forced himself to be content with his decision to remain bound, though he definitely loosened his bonds enough to easily slip free if the need arose.

Time passed with all the excitement of spilled natto. The changing angle of the shadows told Kaito that the place they were in faced roughly south, as the light shining through the windows skipped from one side of the building to the other. Kaito had calculated that he had woken up perhaps an hour before noon, and was beginning to wonder by late afternoon if they had overdosed his friend when the sound of a key scraping against tumblers in the exit door alerted him to the fact that they had visitors. He quickly rolled away from Aoko, ruthlessly tamping down on the urge to throw up as he flung himself into some semblance of the same position he had woken up in. He shut his eyes and pretended to be unconscious, ears intently listening as five—no, six pairs of footsteps entered.

"How long have they been out?" asked a voice, male. Kaito did not recognize it.

"Don't think they've stirred since we brought them here. The brats should be waking up soon, Sable," muttered a second voice.

"How much of the shit did you dose them with?" asked another male.

"What does it matter?" snapped the aforementioned 'Sable'. "KID should have received the note by now." There was gleeful anticipation in the voice that made Kaito's stomach feel rather leaden. "He'll bring Pandora to us—and even if he doesn't, it's game over for these two."

Kaito replayed the man's words in his head, and he felt his blood freeze in his veins once he fully comprehended what had been said.

A ransom note had been sent to Kaitou KID.

He and Nakamori Aoko were the hostages.

That meant—

 _Sable's assumed that Nakamori-keibu is Kaitou KID, the same way Gozu did in Touto Tower—and I have the Dream of Hera with me._

Kaito had no phone with him and thus had no way of contacting anyone, let alone Jii for help regarding his alter ego—but he had faith in his assistant finding a way to him, as the both of them routinely tapped into the police signal to remain updated on the goings on at headquarters. He had been stripped of all of his usual prank supplies as well, and hoped with some viciousness that someone had been colored a bright orange by one of his temporarily staining smoke bombs. Its original use had been aimed at turning all of the classroom furniture the color of the citrus fruit by the same name, but if he ended up painting one of the Syndicate's men tangerine, then Kaito felt it was more than worth the change of intended purpose.

A weak moan alerted everyone present to the fact that Aoko had begun to stir. Kaito tensed, wondering how the men—he did not think there was a woman in the group, judging by the heaviness of their footfalls—would react to the now-awake female—a female who happened to be young, gorgeous, dressed in a school uniform, and _completely incapacitated_. He heard Aoko's surprised inhale upon seeing her captors, and the answering chuckle had him gnashing his teeth despite his instincts telling him to continue playing the metaphorically drooling idiot.

"Hello, sweetheart," one of the men crooned mockingly, and his friend shouted something muffled—and likely insulting—from her taped up mouth.

Kaito chose that moment to groan as well, feigning waking up. He blinked several times, pretending to allow his eyes to adjust to the level of light within the warehouse. He shifted, as though just realizing his limited mobility, and began to "struggle" in earnest, yelling as best he could as he "panicked". He received a swift kick to the jaw for his troubles that left his jaw throbbing and his head swimming, and distantly he heard Aoko shriek in stifled outrage.

"Let's not injure them too badly," Sable rumbled, "and no touching the girl. KID has a penchant for not coming for broken goods."

"Ruin my fun," the man that Kaito assumed had kicked him sulked. "How much longer until the thief shows?"

Kaito rolled over, bringing the members of the Syndicate into full view. There were six men, all dressed in dark clothing and trench coats despite the warmth of the late afternoon. "He has until midnight tonight," Sable answered. "We set up a perimeter. Shoot him once he sees these two, and then we frisk him for Pandora and dispose of the bodies."

The bound magician glanced at his friend, and Aoko's eyes were wide and worried as she returned his gaze. Kaito tried to send her an encouraging smile, but the tape on his mouth ruined the intended effect. Instead, he began to roll and scoot himself towards her only to be kicked away by one of the men.

"You'll untie each other if we let you sit next to each other," he snarled, and Kaito recognized the voice as the same one that had struck him earlier. The man stepped between them, announcing to the group at large, "I'll stay here and keep an eye on them."

Kaito thought furiously. If he knew Aoko's father as well as he thought he did, then the inspector would have taken the ransom note to the police department. The SAT would be involved. There would be negotiations, though Kaito was sure they would fail: neither the inspector nor the SAT had what Sable wanted.

The magician knew that he was disposable in their eyes; it was Aoko who was very much the man's ticket to staying out of prison should his gamble fail to materialize both KID and Pandora. _Think!_ he snapped at himself, turning idea after idea over in his mind in rapid succession as he weighed various methods of escape. More ideas were discarded as they resulted in some combination of Aoko, her father, and himself being killed, and Kaito began to grow increasingly desperate. Thus far, the ones that were the most viable were the ones that involved revealing himself as Kaitou KID to Aoko, even _if_ Jii was able to get him the necessary supplies that would allow everyone to escape unscathed.

 _Do I dare risk it?_

Kaito knew for a fact that Aoko hated KID with a passion—she had made no secret of it for years, particularly when he had taken up the top hat and monocle. That she had steadfastly defended accusations of being Kaitou KID from their foreign classmate Hakuba Saguru meant her finding out would be betrayal of the worst kind in her eyes. Kaito had no illusions when it came to how he felt for his best friend—he had, over the last year or so, developed feelings that went beyond platonic, and he was deeply afraid of ruining any chance he had of eventually dating Aoko.

But with all of the options that he thought up, his chances of dating Aoko dropped to nothing if neither of them failed to survive this. He closed his eyes in resignation at what would be required of him to ensure that the both of them survived.

 _I'll get us out of this alive first and worry about Aoko hating me later—if there_ is _a later,_ he thought, eyeing the localized bulkiness of the Syndicate member's firearms stowed beneath their coats.

* * *

Hakuba Saguru had thought it odd that when, by the time the first class of the day began, neither Kuroba Kaito nor Nakamori Aoko were present. He had thought nothing of it initially, believing the pair to be late due to traffic or some other occurrence that usually happened in Ekoda. Yet when they failed to arrive by the second class, Saguru had seriously begun to feel uneasy, with a vague but worrisome "bad feeling" in his gut. Ekoda was a comparatively safe place—it was a suburb of fairly affluent families, and the crime rate was comparatively low to other parts of Tokyo. Yet as the day rolled on, his worry only grew.

By the time they broke for lunch, the duo continued to maintain their statuses of absent. Saguru forced himself to eat his lunch first before he made his way to the roof for a bit of privacy and called his father. The phone rang once before his father's administrative assistant, Saitou Tokio, answered. Saguru politely asked to be forwarded to his father, and waited two rings before his father, the Superintendent General, answered.

 _"Saguru?"_

"Chichi-ue," the blond greeted, "I have a question for you."

 _"What is it, my son?"_ the superintendent general asked curiously.

Now that he was on the phone with his father regarding an official matter, the half-Briton felt a little tongue-tied. "It's just a feeling," he said slowly, hating the fact that he had nothing but a hunch to go on, "but have you heard of anything regarding either Kuroba Kaito or Nakamori Aoko?"

There was silence before Saguru's father replied cautiously, _"I have."_

"They were not in class today," Saguru rushed to explain, feeling a curious mixture of relief at the fact that his father knew where they were, and dread at the fact that his father knew where they were. "Where are they? What happened?"

 _"I'd rather you not spread this around—I do not want to create a panic,"_ he murmured, and the utter seriousness of the man's tone had Saguru's stomach plummeting to the vicinity of his feet. _"Your two classmates have been abducted and are currently being held as hostages."_

"I— _what_?!" The last sentence his father uttered had failed to compute in Saguru's brain. Pairing "hostage" and "Kuroba Kaito" in the same sentence was impossible simply because Kuroba was the practically incorporeal Kaitou KID, who managed to escape every type of trap thrown his way. So why was he still… _Aoko-san,_ he abruptly realized, _Kuroba-kun would not leave Aoko-san by herself—so even though he is more than capable of escaping by himself, he chose not to for her sake._

 _"The abductors seem to be under the rather odd impression that Nakamori Ginzo-keiji is actually Kaitou KID, and they are demanding an exchange—whatever 'Pandora' is and Nakamori-keiji for Kuroba Kaito and Nakamori Aoko."_ The superintendent general sounded rather confused as to how and why the perpetrators had come to such a conclusion.

Saguru blinked, blindsided by that particular rationale as well, but decided that was food for later thought. "Did they say where they would be waiting?"

 _"You're not going to go, are you?"_ His father's voice was wary, yet resigned.

"Are you going to prevent me?" the blond challenged.

The policeman answered with exasperated patience that he had rarely, if ever, directed towards his only child. _"This is a task better reserved for the SAT, Saguru."_

"But they are my _friends_ , Chichi-ue…" Saguru implored, needing his father to understand his urgency. Saguru was somewhat taken aback by his own vehemence as well, though on some level he was not surprised.

 _"I realize that, Saguru,"_ the superintendent general said, trying his best to console his son, _"but they are involved in an official operation…"_

"But—I—" Saguru floundered for something to counter with. "Couldn't I just—wait on the sidelines or something?"

The older man sighed, and Saguru felt his heart leap as his father finally caved. _"I suppose I could arrange that,"_ he conceded after several long moments of thought.

"Thank you!" the blond breathed, tension he had not realized he held in his frame draining from him and leaving him feeling boneless and weak-kneed.

 _"But you are not to impede or participate in the operation in any way, do you understand?"_ his father sternly commanded, sounding every inch his title.

Saguru nodded, though the man on the other end of the line could not see it. "Yes, sir."

The superintendent general snorted sardonically, both at his son and at himself. _"Good. I'll have someone pick you up in thirty minutes, and I'll call the headmaster to excuse your absence."_

"Thank you, Chichi-ue," the blond repeated, his sincerity clear in his voice.

 _"Don't thank me before we get them safely back,"_ he murmured, and the solemnity with which he spoke made Saguru wonder exactly how serious the situation truly was.

The blond ended the call, frowning pensively as he slipped his phone into his pocket and returned to his classroom right as the bell rung to signal the start of afternoon classes. Within a few minutes, his Japanese literature teacher was notified of his leave for the rest of the day, and Saguru hastily packed his belongings, choosing instead to wait for the patrol car at the school's entrance gate. While he waited beneath the somewhat cooler shade of the trees, he wondered if these men were the same ones that had targeted KID previously.

 _Of course they are, you moron,_ he mentally chided himself. Who would be crazy enough to repeatedly attempt to corner Kaitou KID…?

… aside from Nakamori-keiji, that is.

Saguru grimaced, feeling ashamed for thinking ill of the admittedly hardworking and devoted inspector—especially now, when his daughter's life seemed to be on the line.

After a while a patrol car arrived, and Saguru gratefully ensconced himself in the coolness of the air conditioning of the cabin. As the vehicle traversed back towards police headquarters, he prayed to any deity who would listen.

 _Please, let the two of them make it out safely._

* * *

The clock ticked paradoxically much too slowly, and yet much too quickly for Ginzo's liking. He was almost constantly anxious to the point of nausea, and, as the members of Karasuma's team prepped, impatient for the operation to begin. It was now nearing nineteen thirty, and it had been decided early on that they would wait until at least dusk before commencing the operation—the reason being the distinct possibility that the infamous phantom thief himself might make an appearance, particularly with at least two lives hanging in the balance. Nobody had any idea exactly _how_ KID would learn of the situation, as they had immediately assumed full confidentiality until the operation was over. But even so, and despite the fact that most of the assistant inspector's men had never once attended a KID heist, a good number of them had faith that the nonviolent criminal would somehow learn of the current state of affairs and act or react accordingly.

Ginzo had been decked out in standard SAT gear, which was a much more fortified version of the Kaitou KID Task Force's usual riot gear—only sans the Howa Type 89 assault rifle, as it had been _years_ since he had last fired one. He felt rather uncomfortable wearing the armor, as it would be a clear and plain signal to his daughter's captors that he had been in communication with law enforcement personnel, and had expressed his unease with the team captain.

Karasuma regarded him with immense sympathy in his eyes. "I understand your concern, Nakamori-keibu," he answered solemnly. "But we cannot afford the risk that you _not_ wearing protection provides." And Ginzo could not dispute the man's rationale.

The SAT's plan was to begin their extraction operation precisely at twenty-two hundred. Having cased the location with the use of drones and existing satellite imagery, they were to strategically locate their members around the warehouse to cover all entry points and potential pathways of escape via both assault and sniper teams—though considering that the doors faced east and the few windows were on the east end of the northern and southern walls, only two sniper teams would be required.

The inspector was introduced to Sergeants Shiota Nagisa, Akabane Karma, Isogai Yuuma, and Kayano Kaede, who were the squad captains for this operation, along with their negotiator, Nakamura Rio, before being introduced to the rest of the squads. He had been surprised when Aoko's classmate, Hakuba Saguru, showed up at headquarters fairly early in the afternoon. The teen's face was drawn with worry, and Ginzo did not have the heart to turn the boy away—though intellectually he knew that despite the Superintendent General's son's rather prodigious intellect, he could only be considered a liability if he tagged along.

By twenty hundred, the three squads were ensconced in various vehicles and on the way to the meeting location. Ginzo sat in a car with the blond teen, who had been given permission by his father to observe _only_.

"They'll be fine," Hakuba murmured, and Ginzo glanced at the younger man. His comment had disrupted his furious ruminating regarding who, out of his rather long record of arrests, had enough of a grudge to resort to kidnapping.

"I hope so," he whispered, his stomach churning relentlessly.

Hakuba flashed him a tense smile. "They have Kuroba-kun. If I know him as well as I think I do, then I believe Aoko-san will be safe."

The inspector frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

The young detective huffed sardonically. "I'm sure you've heard at some point my accusations regarding Kuroba-kun being KID?"

"I have," answered Ginzo, recalling Kaito's regular rants to his daughter about the boy that currently sat next to him.

"Then if my deduction is correct, Aoko-san as safe as she can possibly be, given the current circumstances," Hakuba reassured with conviction. "But even if I'm wrong, Kuroba-kun's more than resourceful enough to protect her."

Ginzo sighed. "I hope you are right, Hakuba-kun," he said, agreeing with the idea that Aoko was safe but not necessarily with the idea that Kaito was KID.

The rest of the ride was silent, the two males too deep in their own thoughts to make any meaningful conversation. They were both roused from their contemplation when they felt the vehicle begin to slow, which was soon followed by a dimming of the exterior lights. Ginzo leaned forwards to ask Karasuma, who sat in the passenger seat, if they were nearing the rendezvous point.

"Yes, Nakamori-keibu," the assistant inspector dutifully answered. They rolled at a slow pace for several more minutes before coming to a stop, and their driver, Shiota, quickly killed the engine. Karasuma handed out earpieces to the two of them, requesting that they set the radio frequency to the one he provided. He then left for the mobile command unit, his voice crackling across the headpiece as he checked with every member of the three squads via their codenames and ensuring that there was full communication between everyone.

"Who picked the names for everyone?" Ginzo wondered as names such as "Ponytail and Breasts", "Flouncy Stag-Beetle", and "Mushroom Director" drifted through the roll call.

Hakuba shrugged helplessly, equally at a loss for the naming scheme.

Ginzo watched anxiously under the unusually bright light of the nearly full gibbous moon as the three teams readied themselves for the operation. His eyes easily picked out the two sniper teams solely by the fact that two members had assembled and now carried sniper rifles; the male wielded a Remington 700, and the female a Heckler & Koch PSG1. Their rearguards stood by them, conversing quietly with their partners as they disappeared into the warehouse district along with the other geared up members of the SAT.

Nakamura, the negotiator, approached the increasingly nervous Division Two inspector and noticed his gaze. "Those are our two snipers, Chiba Ryuunosuke and Hayami Rinka; their handles are 'Adult Game Protagonist' and 'Tsundere Sniper', respectively. Their rear guards are Okajima Taiga, also known as 'End of Perversion', and Fuwa Yuzuki, or 'This Manga is Awesome'."

"How on earth did these names come about?" the blond asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

The blonde woman grinned mischievously. "We came up with them during training, as most of us here were in the same class. So… yeah… I'm fluent in English, so mine's 'Gal English'. Karasuma-keibuho is 'Straight Lace' for obvious reasons," she added with a smirk. Her amusement faded away almost immediately after. "Remember, Nakamo—Mace Fuller, I should now say—I'll be listening and will be there to help you talk through everything. Any questions before Straight Lace kicks this thing off?" she asked while quickly consulting her watch.

The inspector licked his suddenly dry lips. "I'll see my daughter again, right, Naka—I mean, Gal English?"

The young woman's grin softened in sympathy and yet paradoxically hardened with confidence. "We were all coached by Koro-sensei, minus Straight Lace," she replied with calm reassurance as she gestured vaguely to everyone gathered, "We'll get them out."

Ginzo had very much heard of Koyama Rokurou, the SAT's notorious head instructor, who had jokingly been dubbed "Koro-sensei" by his trainees. It was an interesting—if morbid—play on both the man's real and code names, but as the man had a flawless record, there was little wonder why prior to becoming an instructor his handle had been "Shinagami".

"I take it I will stay here?" Hakuba chimed in, gesturing to the mobile unit that contained all of the computers and electronics used to coordinate the squads.

Nakamura nodded. "Yes, Sherlock Holmes. Straight Lace will remain here with you to direct us. Half of Middle 2, Gender, Poor Committee Member, and Forever 0 will be leading the individual squads," she answered, referring to Akabane, Shiota, Isogai, and Kayano, respectively. She returned her attention to Ginzo. "I will be in the mobile command post as well."

The inspector nodded. They had gone over the plan multiple times before, but with how tense he was, Nakamura's calm demeanor helped tremendously in calming his frazzled nerves.

As Ginzo steadiied his breathing in preparation for his meeting with his daughter's abductors, Karasuma's voice crackled over the headset, _"Relax, Mace Fuller, we have you covered. Good luck."_

"Thanks," he replied stiffly.

 _"Half of Middle 2, Gender, Forever 0, Adult Game Protagonist, Poor Committee Member, and Tsundere Sniper, are you in place?"_ Karasuma's voice asked over the communication frequency.

 _"Ready,"_ Shiota replied, and a chorus of others from Akabane, Kayano, Chiba, Isogai, and Hayami followed his answer.

Nakamura nodded once, the Division Two inspector began to make his way towards the rendezvous point. The warehouses he passed were dark and eerily silent, and beyond the distant sound of Tokyo's usual vehicular traffic was the occasional blast of a shipping barge's horn or the faint rhythmicity of lapping water. It was disconcerting to know that despite the apparent lack of life within the structures there were a good number of eyes following his movement. It made him feel simultaneously safer and more aware of his vulnerabilities even as he listened to the various members' status updates.

 _"Forever 0, one suspect incapacitated."_

 _"Gender here, incapacitated one suspect."_

 _"Half of Middle 2, suspect incapacitated."_

 _"Poor Committee Member, incapacitated one suspect."_

 _"Continue to sweep the premises and be on the lookout for the hostages,"_ Karasuma ordered, and the chorused, " _Yes sir!"_ lessened Ginzo's nerves with their show of competence. As he approached the specified warehouse on the end of the pathway, he resisted the urge to duck behind something when he spotted another person standing in the open and wearing solid black.

"Nakamori Ginzo," the man stated, and there was more than a hint of smugness in his voice, "or should I say _Kaitou KID_?" He paused as he took in what Ginzo was wearing. "You went to the police, didn't you?"

The inspector felt his mouth dry up. "I'm head of the Kaitou KID Task Force," he argued before Nakamura could offer a response, despite having evidently spotted the stranger via the concealed camera he wore attached to his Kevlar jacket. "I have my own set that I keep with me."

The man lifted a lip in a snarl of suspicion.

"You have the wrong person," Ginzo insisted even as he heard Nakamura give reassurances in his ear that he was saying the right things. "I'm not KID."

The black-coated stranger guffawed. "I doubt it. The fact that you are here means you must have what I want."

 _"Kids. 'course you'd go,"_ Nakamura muttered.

Ginzo gritted his teeth as he snapped back somewhat hysterically, "You have my daughter and a boy who I've practically raised as my own. Why would I _not_ show up?!"

 _"Since you're supposed to have come alone, it's fine if you demand where the kids are, Mace Fuller,"_ Nakamura said.

"Wh—Where are Aoko and Kaito-kun?" Ginzo shouted, his voice trembling more than he could ever recall hearing himself. His insides felt as though every organ had been lined with needles. "Let me see them!"

"Do you have Pandora?" the man countered gruffly, completely ignoring Ginzo's demand.

 _"No showing anything until you confirm their existences,"_ Nakamura spoke quickly.

Gathering his courage and praying he would not be shot before he confirmed the continued existence of the two teenagers, the inspector bluffed, "I won't show you anything until I see them!"

The item that had been referred to as "Pandora" in the note was something that everyone knew was the Dream of Hera. Why _specifically_ they wanted that gem was something of a mystery, since as far as their research was concerned, there was nothing particularly special about the stone other than the fact that Kaitou KID had yet to return it. True, the thief had kept this one gem longer than in the past, but it was not yet a true cause of concern since he _always_ returned his thefts.

"They're safe enough for now," the man answered testily. He produced a handgun from his coat, chambering a bullet with an echoing ratchet of the slide before aiming it at Ginzo. "Now," he growled, his voice serious. "Where is Pandora?"

Cold sweat dripped down the side of his face despite the warmth of the evening, and Ginzo reflexively held his hands up. _I've SAT snipers backing me up,_ he thought, trying to bolster his courage. _They won't let me die._

 _"Easy now, Mace Fuller,"_ Nakamura soothed. _"We've got you covered. Go ahead and ask for confirmation once more."_

Aloud, the inspector once again demanded, "Where is my daughter?"

The man sneered as he made a noise of annoyance. "You'll see her soon enough."

 _"I somehow doubt that 'soon enough' means in this world when you probably mean the next,"_ a voice said, inserting itself into the conversation.

Both men whirled in the direction of the newcomer, only to find a white-clad Kaitou KID perched easily on the roof of one of the warehouses, grinning rakishly. "KID!" the two of them chorused, and the phantom thief only grinned wider.

He twitched a hand only to display the green sapphire in question: the Dream of Hera. "Looking for this, Sable?" he asked rhetorically as he twisted it this way and that, the facets reflecting moonlight.

The newly-named Sable snarled and set his sights on the thief, squeezing off two shots before he shouted in pain and surprise as twin reports echoed, and the man crumpled to the round clutching his hand. Ginzo reacted and hid, unsure of whether or not the man was capable of wielding a gun with his other non-injured hand. KID, meanwhile, had reflexively ducked for cover while tossing a smoke bomb for additional coverage.

 _"End of Perversion here, Adult Game Protagonist has taken out the target's leg,"_ came in one report in Ginzo's ear, which was swiftly followed by, _"This Manga is Awesome reporting, Tsundere Sniper has disarmed the target."_

 _"KID!"_ Sable roared from his crouched position, and he yanked out another gun, aiming at the thief's general direction with his non-dominant hand. "Come out here, you fucking coward!"

"I highly doubt hiding when a gun is pointed your direction is considered cowardice," the magician answered, clearly affronted.

 _Don't die, KID,_ Ginzo thought desperately from his own hiding place as he watched with his heart pounding in his throat.

 _"Adult Game Protagonist, I have a mark on Kaitou KID,"_ Chiba said across the frequency.

Ginzo felt his blood freeze even as he snarled, "Don't you _dare_ shoot him!"

"But if you insist…" KID sighed at Sable, seeming to acquiesce. A surge of pink smoke erupted from Sable's feet, and the man shot once at KID before crumpling to the ground, asleep. KID approached and efficiently bound the man with a string of handkerchiefs.

"This one's all yours, Keibu," he announced as he turned to regard Ginzo. "I'll send up a flare if I find the kids."

"K—KID!" Ginzo sputtered, but the thief disappeared in another burst of smoke. Akabane's team arrived soon after to take possession of the incapacitated Sable, and a minute later, a red flare lit the sky. Ginzo raced towards the light with nary a thought to his own safety, praying with all his heart that Aoko and Kaito were alive and unharmed.

* * *

Author's Note: Um, this sort of sprouted legs and ran away from me… What started as a relatively simple idea in my head ballooned into this monstrosity, which I've split into two parts for easier readability. It comes across to me as similar in idea to _Search and Recovery_ , though the cast is mostly different and there's a different kind of ending for Kaito that I have in store. SAT is the Japanese Special Assault Team, which is the equivalent of America's SWAT team—Special Weapons And Tactics team. Midori means "green", which is in keeping with Sensei's color-themed names for Magic Kaito. A sable is a small, ferret-like carnivore that is hunted for their fur. The compounds are various vaporized general sedatives used in surgeries. Fujita Gorou, also known as Saitou Hajime, and Saitou Tokio are characters in _Rurouni Kenshin_ and coincidently husband and wife, and there are gratuitous character references to _Ansatsu Kyoushitsu_ , though I had to make up an actual name for Koro-sensei, since he technically never knew what his real name was. "Mace Fuller" is Nakamori's Anglicized name. I hope you enjoyed it.

* * *

Completed: 11.12.2016


	2. II: Fear

Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Ansatsu Kyushitsu characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō and Matsui Yūsei, respectively.

* * *

Warnings: Mild language and violence

* * *

Faith and Trust

By Taliya

* * *

II: Fear

* * *

The sun had long since set, blanketing the world in shadow. Kaito had remained separated from Aoko since she had awoken, the aggressive Syndicate member having taken to watching the both of them from a nearby wall. He leaned against one of the steel struts, silent, with eyes that gleamed dimly in the moonlight.

After nearly a day without anything to drink and only having been allowed to relieve himself twice, Kaito was feeling rather miserable. Multiple times he had contemplated facilitating his own escape, but abandoning Aoko was something he _could not_ do—though to be sure, he had been sorely tempted. He wondered what exactly had been written in the ransom note, though judging by their brief conversation when the Syndicate men had entered Kaito had a fairly good idea.

The magician knew that Sable—like Snake and Spider—would not allow anyone he suspected to be KID to walk away unscathed, let alone alive. But it was interesting to note that it seemed that Snake alone was convinced that KID was his dead father, Kuroba Touichi, since neither Spider or Sable seemed to labor under that same supposition. Kaito knew that should the inspector appear his life was assuredly forfeit without any sort of backup. But Aoko's father was not a stupid man; he was in fact one of the smartest—if not the most hotheaded—men that Kaito knew, genius deductive prodigies à la Kudou and Hakuba notwithstanding. He had to be in order to get into the position he was at today.

Kaito was positive the SAT would be involved—the inspector would never do anything to risk the life of his only child, and he felt an old echoing pang of jealousy for his childhood friend, who at least had a parent who they at least saw everyday. He roughly shoved the envy aside, as now was not the time for any sort of ruminations of that kind. Instead, he focused his considerable brainpower on what to do when—not if—Jii arrived with everything he needed to make his grand entrance as Kaitou KID.

Based on what he could observe of his surroundings, Kaito had also deduced that they were likely directly north of Haneda Airport due to the direction, frequency, and noisiness of the airplanes that continually passed overhead—meaning they were likely in either Shinagawa or Koutou, though he leaned more towards Shinagawa.

With that in mind, and considering that the only entrances—excluding the windows—to the warehouse faced in a general east direction, Kaito supposed that the SAT would first surround the warehouse before sending in a negotiator who would assuredly _not_ be the inspector.

A series of coos from one of the windows had him glancing up at a window, where he spotted a pure white rock dove—likely one of his, or rather, _KID's_ —perched on the sill. His sharp eyes picked out a sizable bump on one leg, likely indicative of some sort of recording or monitoring device. The fact that it was giving out a mourning dove's three-noted "where are you?" call despite the fact that it was assuredly _not_ morning nor was its plumage that of a mourning dove made Kaito grin madly behind the tape. Mourning doves were not native to Japan, after all.

 _Jii,_ he thought with relief as he chanced a quick glance at his captor, who had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. _He's pulled through again._ Using all of his considerable skill at ventriloquism, Kaito responded to the bird with the same species' response call, though he changed the frequency of the first so that it was not a "standard" reply of satisfaction. The twist in the birdcall was one that he had made with the elderly assistant in the event that he was in need of help of some sort, and that was the code he used now. He cooed the message three times, and the bird replied with the more usual reply of notes before it took off, only to park itself on a roof the next warehouse over.

The fact that the bird was here likely meant that Jii was somewhere nearby, and that it was time to make his escape—and for Kaitou KID to make his appearance. He glanced at Aoko with deep regret as he steeled himself for what was to come. _I'm sorry I lied to you, Aoko. I'm so sorry._

With one steadying breath, Kaito suddenly flipped himself up so that he was standing, the ropes falling away from his ankles—which he had untied by being rather squirmy over the course of the day. The man watching them sprang to his feet with a surprised shout, and Kaito charged him, lashing out with a foot to knock him out cold with a solid blow to the head. When he was sure the man would not be waking anytime soon, he made quick work of freeing himself and went to work untying Aoko after he had as gently as he could peeled the tape off her face.

"Aoko," he murmured as he undid the knots for her wrists, "I need you to cover for me."

Aoko blinked in confusion as she massaged blood circulation back into her wrists and hands. "What?"

Kaito gazed into her eyes after he had completely finished freeing her and took a breath. "I'll be back in a bit, but I need you to tell everyone that I was always here."

"I don't understand," she replied, frowning.

"These guys are after KID, and—" Kaito ruffled his hair in a mix of frustration and nerves. "Aoko, these are the same guys that murdered Oyaji. I _can't_ let them do the same to yours."

There was a moment of silence as realization sunk in. "Wait—you're…?" she breathed, her eyes widening in shock. _"You're…?"_

 _"_ _Yes,"_ Kaito confirmed hurriedly with a hiss of breath, "I need to prove to them that your father is _not_ Kaitou KID so that they will not go after him again."

"But—" It seemed Aoko was at a loss for words.

Kaito glanced out the window and spotting the silhouetted speck of the bird that was waiting for him. "Look Aoko, I'll explain later, but can you help me with this? Right now?" he pleaded.

Aoko's expression was torn between confusion, betrayal, and fury. "I—all right," she assented, seeming to remember their current situation. As the daughter of a policeman and despite her penchant to allow her temper to get the better of her, she recognized when certain situations required her to hold her tongue. Her expression was thunderous, however as she wrapped her arms around her legs. "But I fully expect an explanation later, Kaito."

"I promise I will give you one," Kaito solemnly swore. Rising to his feet, he secured the entryways to ensure that none of the other Syndicate members would be able to enter through traditional means before monkeying his way up to the window. "I owe you a lot, Aoko."

"Just go," she answered curtly from her curled up position on the floor, and though her dismissive tone cut him to the quick, Kaito wasted no time in sliding through and tailing the patiently waiting bird to its destination. He kept to the shadows, aware of the fact that there were likely snipers in position since the SAT was involved. He sneaked onwards, however, breathing a sigh of relief when he found a familiar Vanden Plas Princess 1100. "Jii-chan!" he shouted as loud as he dared, which was not all that loud at all.

"Bocchama!" the elderly man answered, and Kaito flung himself into his assistant's arms for a reassuring hug. "Thank goodness you're alive!"

"So what are the police's plans?" he asked as he disengaged from Jii and began rummaging through the trunk, assessing the supplies that the man had brought with him.

Jii was abruptly all business as he explained, "It's nine forty-eight right now. The SAT have their operation set to start at ten. You're lucky you didn't get sniped."

Kaito glanced at his assistant. "I figured they would bring in snipers, but my assumption was that they would be at whatever rendezvous location listed. I didn't think Sable was stupid enough to have Nakamori-keibu meet at the same place we were being held." He studied a satellite image of the area on a laptop, and Jii had put in the rendezvous location. From where they were, it was two blocks over and one up. "SAT's probably swept the ground for the other four," he muttered as he quickly changed into the iconic white outfit and layered it over with his reconnaissance blacks, "So I should only have to worry about their ground squads if I stay off the rooftops." He shot Jii a grin. "No need to make their snipers go trigger happy, you know."

The assistant frowned. "Please don't joke about that, Bocchama," he chided, and Kaito's jocularity quieted.

"Sorry," Kaito apologized. "I'm just trying to distract myself from the fact that they took Aoko. If they had come after me, that would have been fine. But that they came after _Aoko_ …" He trailed off, unable to fully articulate the complex mix of emotions he felt. All of it was squelched beneath Poker Face as Kaito finally finished arming himself and settled a headset into each ear. One was a private line to Jii, and the other was tuned to the SAT's frequency. He stifled a snort at the members' rather chaotic assortment of codenames, and decided that he needed to invite these people to a heist sometime, if only to hear the names 'Artsy Bean Pole', 'Amazing Monkey', and 'Womanizing Bastard' spoken with absolute seriousness again at some point.

Kaitou KID took a breath and exhaled, steadying his nerves. "Well, Jii-chan," he said, addressing his assistant, "Wish me luck."

"As if I would ever pass up the opportunity," Jii replied with a nod. "Good luck."

KID raced off at a speedy jog, a GPS tracker giving his location to Jii, who traced him on the laptop while giving him directions. The thief slid to a halt as he dodged visuals from one of the SAT squads, repeating the action several more times as he closed in on the meeting point. When he was one warehouse over, he levered himself up onto the roof, keeping himself flattened against the metal paneling as he warily scanned the horizon for the snipers' stakeout locations. He was grateful that Jii had had the foresight to point them out on the map, so at least he knew which side of the building to keep on.

He listened as Sable greeted the inspector, heard the negotiator coaching the man when possible.

"Wh—Where are Aoko and Kaito?" Ginzo demanded, and KID could clearly hear how badly the man's voice shook. It made him want to impart some more lasting damage to the men who had kidnapped both himself and Aoko. "Let me see them!"

"Do you have Pandora?" Sable barked in lieu of a reply, and the thief fingered the gem safely stowed in a pocket.

The Dream of Hera had been a green sapphire he had stolen almost a month ago when it had come to Tokyo as part of a tour. The moment the full moon's light had touched it—before he had even made it out of the museum—it had flashed a brilliant ruby, and KID had known instantly that this was the one. He had escaped, of course, but had checked once more before he had fled the scene, careful to keep the crimson light from illuminating any exposed skin. There was no telling what a gem like Pandora would and could do.

He had spent the ensuing time trying to figure out how to destroy it. Taking a sledgehammer to it had done nothing except ding the steel of the hammer; a blowtorch and crucible had failed to melt the damned thing. While Kaito had easy access to a hydraulic press, he knew where he could find one, and had tried it out after sneaking into the mechanical engineering building on Touto University's campus. That had failed miserably, and with the money he had made off of both smartphone apps and games and investments to support his ventures as Kaitou KID, he gave the Engineering Faculty an anonymous donation to fix the machine.

As it stood, Kaito's only other options were to either send the bloody rock into space, or drop it into a volcano. Currently he was favoring the volcano idea.

KID shook himself; his mental wanderings could happen later, when he ensured that everyone made it out safely.

"—show you anything until I see them!" Nakamori bellowed, and there was honest desperation in his voice. It made KID's heart ache in deep sympathy.

"They're safe enough for now," Sable replied, and the phantom thief could tell that his patience was rapidly waning. The ratcheting of a gun confirmed his suspicions. "Now," the Syndicate member snarled, "Where is Pandora?"

 _"_ _Easy now, Mace Fuller,"_ the female negotiator said over the line, and KID wondered where Nakamori's codename came about. _"We've got you covered. Go ahead and ask for confirmation once more."_

And with somewhat bolstered courage, the inspector once again insisted, "Where is my daughter?"

"You'll see her soon enough," Sable snapped, and KID knew this was his cue to step in before a shot was fired.

"I somehow doubt that 'soon enough' means in this world when you probably mean the next," he said, straightening from where he had been previously hidden. He fingered a smoke bomb in one hand for quick access to a speedy getaway.

"KID!" the two men on the ground shouted, and the magician smiled wider at the acknowledgement.

He raised a hand before him, and with a bit of sleight of hand, he displayed the Dream of Hera between his fingers. "Looking for this, Sable?" he taunted, wiggling the gem make it sparkle under the moonlight. He would make sure that the man's attention was focused solely on him.

Sable growled in an animalistic manner and fired two shots at him, and KID ducked out of reflex, setting off the waiting smoke bomb as he did so. He hoped that Nakamori had the sense to make a run for it now that Sable had confirmed that the inspector and Kaitou KID were most assuredly _not_ one and the same.

Twin cracks echoed in the night, and someone let out a stifled shout of pain. _"End of Perversion here,"_ came a male voice on the SAT's headset, _"Adult Game Protagonist has taken out the target's leg."_ The statement was quickly followed by, _"This Manga is Awesome reporting, Tsundere Sniper has disarmed the target."_

 _"_ _KID!"_ Sable bellowed, his voice tinged with pain and fury. "Come out here, you fucking coward!"

 _Oi oi,_ the thief thought resentfully even as he countered with offense clear in his voice, "I highly doubt hiding when a gun is pointed your direction is considered cowardice."

 _"_ _Adult Game Protagonist, I have a mark on Kaitou KID."_ The magician froze, wondering if the sniper would take the shot and end his life right then. While he could make an educated guess as to which of the sniper locations Adult Game Protagonist was at, it would take too long scrambling from his current position to save him.

"Don't you _dare_ shoot him!" Nakamori snarled, and KID both heard him in real time as well as across the line.

 _Keibu—I didn't know you cared that much,_ KID thought, touched. However, he continued to act as though he had not heard the police interplay, and instead readied his card gun as he rose from his hiding place against the roofing, murmured casually, "But if you insist…" The moment he had a visual on Sable, he shot a capsule containing knock out gas at the man, dousing him in a cloud of pink vapor. He ducked a stray shot from Sable before dropping from the roof and approaching the sedated form on the ground. He kicked the man's gun away and proceeded to tie the Syndicate member up with a string of knotted handkerchiefs.

"This one's all yours, Keibu," he said once Sable was satisfactorily bound. He regarded the ragged-looking inspector and mentally encouraged him with, _Just a little longer, Keibu._ Aloud, he said, "I'll send up a flare if I find the kids," and made his escape with the help of a smoke bomb and a quick change into his reconnaissance blacks.

"K—KID!" Nakamori called, but by then Kaito was already on the way back to Jii, shedding his attire as he went while still managing to avoid the still vigilant squads that were widening their search radii for both himself and Aoko.

"Jii-chan!" Kaito huffed as he approached the older man, "You need to get going!" The magician quickly changed into the clothes he originally wore and shoved all of KID's gear into the trunk of the Princess with Jii's help. The assistant drove off soon after, and Kaito made his way back to the warehouse he had originally woken up in. He shot a red flare into the sky before flinging the flare gun as far away as he could manage. Kaito entered through the window he had left and was relieved to find Aoko still inside and the unnamed Syndicate member still out cold.

His drop to the ground startled a shriek from his friend, and he ducked a swipe as he yelped, "It's me, Aoko!"

Aoko froze, her breathing heavy. "Kaito…?" she ventured tentatively before surprising him by wrapping her arms around his chest. "Thank the gods you're safe!" she whispered.

Kaito felt heat rise into his cheeks at her proximity, though he did his best to control the flush in his cheeks. "Wh-Why wouldn't I be?" he stuttered out, faking bravado.

That seemed to trigger something in Aoko's mind, for she suddenly and roughly shoved him away and Kaito stumbled a few steps before recovering his balance. " _You_ have some explaining to do," she hissed, jabbing him harshly in the sternum.

"I know, I know!" Kaito agreed, wincing at her pokes. "But let's get out of here first before I explain, okay? And…" Kaito hesitated, before forcing out, "Are you going to turn me in?" He dreaded hearing her answer, but was too curious to keep from asking.

Aoko regarded him with a blank but intense expression. She opened her mouth to answer, but a shout from outside distracted the both of them.

 _"_ _Aoko! Kaito-kun!"_ The voice belonged to the inspector.

 _"_ _Tou-san!"_ Aoko called out, her voice full of relief. "We're in here!"

Kaito crossed over to the door and unlocked it, only to be met with the barrel of an assault rifle. He froze, his focus narrowed down to that tiny black hole that could all too easily end his life. Immediately, he held up his hands to show that he was unarmed, and the snout of the rifle was pressed into his chest, though not harshly. Instead he stepped backwards, allowing the SAT member to back him into a corner as more officers rushed through the entry, efficiently sweeping the interior and taking the knocked out member into custody.

"Kuroba Kaito?" the SAT member who had him cornered asked.

"Th-That's me," he confirmed shakily, and only then the gun's sights drop from his torso.

 _"_ _Aoko!"_ Nakamori's voice echoed within the warehouse, and Aoko's joyful answer had Kaito's chest tightening in relief, and while there was a relaxing comfort that came with seeing them hug, there was also a surge of bitterness that welled up in the back of his throat. _He_ was the cause of this: the reason father and daughter had been placed in this situation. Kaito glanced away as Nakamori began questioning what had happened, abruptly feeling as though he did not deserve— _what_ exactly, he was not quite sure of. Nonetheless, he made his way out of the warehouse, choosing instead to linger with the SAT officers waiting outside.

Kaito stared up at the moon, wondering how he would destroy Pandora, which was safety headed back to the Blue Parrot with Jii. He was worried on a number of levels, Pandora's destruction accounting for one of his sources of stress. The other main source was Aoko's knowledge that he was Kaitou KID. While Kaito dearly wished he could flee, he knew that he needed to go to the station to have his statement taken before he could retire for the night.

Aoko proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the night, much to her father's puzzlement, but Kaito waited on tenterhooks the entire time for his big reveal, but ultimately it never came. Aside from conversing with him to essentially collaborate on their statements, his friend did not bother to talk with him at all, and his time spent in the station was instead filled with Hakuba hovering anxiously over him.

By the time they were given permission to leave, Kaito was exhausted. The drive was uncomfortably silent for him, with Aoko and her father quietly conversing in the front. It was late when he returned home with the Nakamoris, and he quietly bid them good night before slinking back into his own house next door. Only when he had shut the door of his room behind him did he slide to the floor, allowing his tears of relief and fear to escape.

* * *

Saguru had been more than relieved to find his classmates safe and alive when the SAT squads returned to where they had parked the vehicles. It had taken all of his considerable willpower not to mow his two friends over in his desire to hug them—which was already unusual, as he was not normally a touchy-feely sort of person. Truthfully, the blond was a little overwhelmed by the strength of his emotions when he had seen the two trudging wearily within a sea of SAT riot gear.

"Ack! Hakuba, the hell?!" squawked Kuroba, instantly struggling out of the blond's hold, and Saguru released him after a quick squeeze to reaffirm that the thief was truly still alive. Aoko, however, clung on for a moment longer before she too let go, but there were tears of mingled relief and amused understanding in her eyes.

"Sorry," Saguru murmured with a cough of embarrassment, "I'm just—" The very idea that he might have lost two of his friends for good this night was a concept too unpalatable to contemplate—particularly now, since that chain of events had failed to come to pass. With his sudden fit of discomfiture, the blond detective ducked his head but managed to force out quietly, "I'm just glad you're still here—both of you."

"Hakuba-kun," Aoko whispered as she hugged him once more. "I'm glad we're still here too."

The SAT made quick work of carting off six men that they had captured, and Saguru presumed that they were his classmates' abductors. The men were all clad in black, and something about their eyes made the blond shiver uncomfortably. It took him a moment to figure out why: their gazes were hard and cold, and the cruel glints belonged to those who killed others without remorse. Saguru felt his heart seize at the idea that his friends had been in the clutches of these men for an entire day.

There was very little conversation between the two former captives, which struck Saguru as distinctly odd. From the cases that he had worked involving hostage situations, the people held as collateral generally bonded over the experience—and yet here Aoko actively _avoided_ acknowledging his existence, let alone talked willingly to him. If anything, she appeared to be absolutely _livid_ at the magician for something neither of them would talk about. That was definitely not part of the typical behavioral profile of a rescued hostage.

 _The devil is going on here?_ he wondered with a nagging curiosity that almost made him feel as though braving Aoko's mop-wielding theatrics would be worth the bruises that would be sure to form later. Only his sense of propriety and his respect for personal privacy kept him from asking either of them about their current relationship as it stood. He had a lurking suspicion that it had everything to do with Kaitou KID's appearance earlier that evening.

Saguru silently sighed as he watched Kuroba slouch in a chair in a break room, an air of miserable dejection hanging about him. He had already given his witness testimony; Aoko was currently in another office giving hers. The blond's sharp eyes picked up minute signs of anxiety in the brunet's behavior that his classmate had previously never exhibited: his right leg bounced in a frantic tempo and he haphazardly shuffled a deck of cards with less flair and dexterity than what Saguru was used to seeing.

Considering Aoko's highly vocal denouncement of the phantom thief over the years, it was really not much of a surprise that they would each react the way they were—provided that his inference regarding their silent non-dispute was indeed correct. Feeling a swell of pity and sympathy for his friend despite his misgivings regarding his unofficial occupation, Saguru plopped himself into the chair next to him, unsure of what he could say to console his friend.

"She was bound to find out eventually," he blurted out after the silence between them had long grown past awkward and into near rancid stagnancy and winced at his unpolished bluntness.

Kuroba released a strangled moan and muttered, "She's never going to want to talk to me again."

"That's not true—" Saguru began, only to cut himself off as Kuroba raised solemn eyes that radiated mournful, resigned acceptance of his fate. The blond knew of the magician's infatuation with his best friend—anyone with two brain cells to rub together could see how much the two of them _adored_ each other despite the bickering and teasing—and it pained him to see how devastated Kuroba was at the idea that Aoko would erase him from her life entirely.

"Of course it is." Kuroba laughed mirthlessly, the sound a far cry from his usual guffaws, which were bright with cheeriness.

A part of him believed that Kuroba was only getting his just desserts for choosing to become a phantom thief and lying to everyone he knew, and Saguru realized that this school of thought was from the Hakuba Saguru that had never met Kuroba Kaito—had never had to before truly question the motivations of a criminal. Usually murders were motivated by hatred, and occasionally, greed. But Kaitou KID had been an entirely different type of criminal, one who specifically did _not_ kill—and it had intrigued the half-Briton to the point that he had uprooted himself from London to Tokyo.

But the greater part of him felt that, after befriending the civilian personality of the phantom thief, Kuroba's motivations were—if his suppositions were correct—due to love and a desire to see justice served. And because of this, Saguru did not think that Kuroba deserved the cold shoulder that Aoko had given her best friend. At a minimum, he felt that she would at least listen to _why_ Kuroba had turned to thievery. And though Saguru was itching to hear the tale himself, he knew that this was a conversation for just the two of them.

 _Damn my propriety,_ he cursed as he vowed to get Aoko to give Kuroba the chance to explain himself. _I want to hear his story too!_

Saguru huffed before stating lowly but clearly, "I'll talk to Aoko-san and see if I can get her to give you time to explain."

Kuroba's gaze, which had returned dejectedly to the linoleum flooring, snapped up to meet his. "You—" he stuttered, shocked, "You'll do that? For _me_?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Would I be offering if I wasn't genuine?"

"But—but I thought you hated me," the magician murmured softly, and only then did Saguru realize how much his initial attitude had colored Kuroba's impression of him. "I thought you wanted me in prison." It was the most direct reference Kuroba had ever made towards his being Kaitou KID.

He sighed. "I don't want you in prison, and I don't hate you, Kuroba-kun. Far from, actually." When his classmate continued to give him a fairly accurate impression of a gasping fish, he chided, "Trying to catch flies, Kuroba-kun?" After the magician responded with the click of teeth, Saguru admitted, since it seemed that Kuroba was in need of reassurance of some sort, "In all honesty, I happen to consider you a good friend despite your occasional kleptomaniac tendencies—and as a friend, I'll try to get Aoko-san to ease up on you. If she's as good a friend as I believe she is, she'll forgive you." He smirked as he added, "Besides, it benefits me as well, since then I won't have to choose sides if this cold war lasts longer than a week."

Kuroba snorted and halfheartedly shoved Saguru on the shoulder. "Ass," he retorted before adding as an afterthought, "and I'm not KID." But there was a ghost of a smile that lurked on the magician's lips, and the half-Briton counted that as a win.

* * *

 _I believe I owe you an explanation.  
Would you mind meeting me at  
my house at 8:30 this evening?_

 _-Kaito_

The short note had been sitting on her desk when she had come home from her jog. A brief inquiry had confirmed that her befuddled father, who had taken the day off and was currently making dinner, had delivered the slip of paper from a wan-looking Kaito.

Aoko considered the familiar handwriting of her best friend. While there was still a molten inferno of fury directed at him for lying to her face for two years, she also had no desire to completely destroy their decade-old friendship.

It had been a week since the incident, and she had not spoken once to Kaito since they had left police headquarters. Kaito had obligingly given her space, though he constantly sent her puppy eyes that wordlessly begged for forgiveness. What surprised her most was the fact that Hakuba Saguru had, during that time, pulled her aside several times requesting that she listen to what he had to say before she made the decision to never forgive him. Aoko had no idea that the two boys were that close, considering their constant antagonism towards each other during the time they had known each other.

She thought about the memories they had created over the years: blowing bubbles and chasing butterflies in Kaito's backyard when they were six; participating as the key characters for their class's end-of-year play in their Third Year; helping each other with pre-algebra problems in their Sixth Year; inadvertently causing a miniature explosion in their chemistry lab their Ninth Year.

Kaito had grown more distant at the beginning of their Tenth Year—the year that Kaitou KID had made his reappearance on the world stage. In hindsight, she easily saw the correlation, but at the time, she had not known of the connection between the two, and would have never even _thought_ of a connection between the two had Hakuba not enrolled in their class. Looking back, she now felt rather foolish for defending Kaito as vehemently as she had, but without the knowledge she now possessed, could she honestly have been blamed for simply wanting to stand up for her best friend in the face of such an extreme and seemingly absurd accusation?

Aoko clenched her phone, the plastic creaking in protest. All week she had waffled over when—not whether or not—she planned on speaking with Kaito. She had wanted time to cool her head, as she knew she had a tendency to say very hurtful things when upset, but the sheer scale of his transgression was unlike anything she had ever dealt with, and her feelings regarding Kaito's duplicity ran deep. But considering that Kaito had finally worked up the nerve to finally ask to speak with her, Aoko felt she should oblige. So, she sent him a cursory text informing him that she would on his doorstep at the appointed time.

Now that the text was sent, she went and showered to rinse the sweat and grime from her run off of her. She had a quiet dinner with her father, thanking him for the meal before excusing herself.

"Aoko." Aoko turned at the sound of her father's voice, and the man sighed as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say. "I can tell you're upset with Kaito-kun about something, but just—just give him a chance, all right? A friendship that's lasted as long as yours shouldn't end like this."

She gazed at her father for a moment, taking in the wrinkles of concern that creased his face before stepping forwards and embracing him. "I'll keep that in mind," she murmured before letting go and making her way to the door. A few minutes later found her ringing the doorbell to the Kuroba home. It was such a familiar place, and yet Aoko had never felt more like a stranger staring up at that façade.

Kaito answered the door after a few breaths, and his deadened eyes and drawn expression alerted her to much her silence had affected him. He stepped back, wordlessly allowing her entry, and Aoko stepped into her customary slippers with the ease of habit. Kaito led her silently to the living room, where he had already prepared a tray of tea. They sat on the couches, Kaito on one and Aoko on the other, the silence oppressive as they sipped their mugs. At length Aoko decided to break the ice with her usual grace and tact.

"Were you secretly laughing?" she demanded, and she abruptly realized how her hands trembled ever so slightly as her anger rose, fueled by her pain. "Watching Aoko and thinking, _Poor stupid Aoko, in love with the very same man she hates more than anyone else in the world?_ "

The magician recoiled as if physically slapped in the face. "No, Aoko, I—"

But now that she had released her initial thoughts, it was as though a torrent had been unleashed, and she allowed it to run off her tongue unchecked. "Were you just playing with Aoko's feelings then?"

"I would never—just let me explain!" Kaito pleaded, setting his own mug down.

Kaito's interjection only fueled her anger. "Explain _what_ , Kaito?" she snapped, "That you _chose_ to be a criminal?" She set her own mug down lest she either toss it contents at Kaito's face or shatter the container with her increasingly tense grip. She blinked, abruptly aware of the blurriness of her vision as she stared furiously at her longtime friend. "That you _chose_ to lie to my face for years?"

"I chose to become a phantom thief because of Oyaji!" Kaito insisted, and the deep, raw _hurt_ in his eyes made her pause even in her own towering fury.

She pulled her emotions back enough to hiss out, "What do you mean by that?"

Kaito ran a hand through his disheveled hair as he whispered, "The guys that were captured that night were—" He broke the thought off, and Aoko's eyes caught the convulsive bobbing of his Adam's apple. What came next was a tale of love and loss, revenge and justice, integrity and criminality. Kaito explained how he had found out, how he had chosen to take up the cloak, how he risked his life every time he donned the monocle, how he had come to the decision not to involve the police in his searching.

Aoko was floored by the end of Kaito's recitation of the history and evolution of the infamous phantom thief. Once Kaito finished his narrative, the two of them sat quietly in the Kuroba living room, each lost in their own thoughts, the tea having gone cold long ago.

"Kaito…" she murmured, at a loss as to what to say.

Her friend glanced briefly at her through his fringe, and he exhaled. "Do you… do you still hate me, Aoko, for lying to you?" he asked, and there was clear trepidation in both his voice and body language, as though he appeared to be bracing himself for a beating.

"I'm mad at you, Kaito," Aoko answered, still trying to wrestle with her own roiling emotions. Kaito flinched at her statement, but she continued with, "But you're still my friend, and you had reasons—that I understand, even if I don't agree with—to become KID." She caught Kaito's gaze and held it steadily. "It'll take time for me to come to terms with everything you've told me, but if this Syndicate is as dangerous as you claim, then I'll help you find them."

Kaito squawked at her decision. "A-Aoko, it's dangerous to involve your—"

"Like it's any less dangerous for you," she countered. "I may not be trained in ninjutsu like you, but I'm sure there are other ways I can help in the background."

"You're sure about this?" Kaito asked, but even she could see that he was caving in to demand to be included. Aoko had a stubborn streak like that, and knew when to use it to her advantage whenever she had to deal with her childhood friend.

Aoko nodded. "Maybe it'll help me reconcile things faster. But more importantly, these men need to be brought to light, and there's no need for you to do this alone." And for the first time in a week, Aoko smiled at Kaito. "Isn't that what friends are for?"

Kaito's tentative, answering beam was all the answer she needed.

* * *

Author's Note: I honestly had no idea what to name this piece, as it's so scattered in themes that there was nothing that stood out to me, so yeah, perhaps the title doesn't match the story at all. Up until I completed writing this, I had it labeled as "Untitled Ginzo". Author fail. Anyhow, friendship for the win! I do so love it when situational conflicts end up bringing people closer together. I'm growing so much more fond of Saguru the more I write him. Aoko was much harder to write here than I expected, especially since I had to first frame her from Kaito's very scared point of view before switching to hers later. Certain aspects of the police-related stuff are based on picking the brain of my friend and coworker Kevin (thank you!), who is a former homicide investigator with twenty-plus years of experience, so hopefully from the police side it reads as fairly realistic—there remains, however, a distinct measure of artistic license involved… I hope you enjoyed it.

* * *

Completed: 19.12.2016


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